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Great Carpet Cleaner Shampoo Substitute

Posted on by September 7, 2021
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Carpet Cleaner Soap

Save Money:

You can make your own great carpet cleaner shampoo substitute cheap and easy. You can even make substitute de-foamer to keep the water picked up in the recovery tank from foaming up.  I did it and it is easy. You can use what you already have. Also known as carpet shampoo, solution, soap, detergent- it is all the same.

I have a Hoover carpet cleaner that I use several times a year to clean  high traffic areas. Works good  and I like the results. The price of the fluid adds up though, at $12 or more a bottle. Then you add on  the de-foamer and the spot treatment, it really adds up. I knew there must be a cheaper way, so I searched the web and saw it mentioned you can use laundry detergent. Made sense to me, since you are cleaning fabric.

Make your own:

After using it for a couple years, this is what I do. I use a teaspoon or less of powdered laundry detergent to a gallon of hot water. Think about how much you use in the clothes washer to a gallon of water. I don’t see why you couldn’t use liquid soap instead. If you use scented, your carpet will smell like your clothes do. You wouldn’t use something with fabric softener in it. May attract dirt. As always put some of the solution on a rag and test a concealed part on the carpet for color fastness.

Defoamer and Spot Clean too:

For de-foamer in the recovery tank, just put a small piece of bar soap in the tank. Fish it out and use it again. Works great! For the spot pre-treatment, I just spray some Formula 409 cleaner on the spot and rub it a little before going over it with the carpet cleaner. Spray some on a cloth first and rub a carpet area to make sure no color from the carpet transfers to the rag.

These are the three ways I save some money cleaning my carpets. It adds up over time.

Easy to Make Plywood Cutting Table

Posted on by September 7, 2021
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This is the DIY plywood or sheet goods cutting table I made. Makes cutting plywood easy. I made it some years back based on an article in Fine Woodworking Magazine. August 2000. It is made to support a sheet of plywood while it is being cut down to size with a circular saw. It is made of four 8 foot long 2×4 pieces of lumber and a pair of banquet table legs you can get at amazon.com (affiliate links) 29″BLK FOLDING TABLE LEG (Ebco Tools APF-B)The folding legs make it easy to store when not in use.

This table is sacrificial. This means you actually cut through the plywood into the table. Not too deep! Clamp the sheet of plywood down to the table so it is supported on both sides of the cut. Then use an edge guide to run a circular saw along. The table is 7 feet long, 35″ wide and 31″ tall. You can also use it as a table by putting a piece of plywood on it. I use it as a painting table too. Works great with the Kreg KMA2675 Kreg Rip-Cut.  See my review here.

Plywood Cutting Table
Cutting Table
Plywood Cutting table folded
Cutting table folded

Cut seven- 31 7/8″ pieces for the cross members. By cutting this length, you can get 3 pieces out of each 8 foot length. For the seven foot sides, either use 2x2s or split one of the 2x4s lengthwise. Put cross members at each end and one in the center. Put a cross member 15″ in from each end. This will be the leg support. The remaining two cross members will be the leg lock supports. You will have to determine the position of this by experimenting. Temporarily screw or clamp it until you make sure the legs fold down all the way and lock vertically too. I messed up on this and had to reposition the board. The leg locks hinge towards the top. You pull down on them to lock them. Also make sure you offset the legs a little, so when they fold closed, they do not hit each other.

This table is not a full 4’x8′ like a sheet of plywood, because you only need to support where you are cutting. Use the cross members and sides to clamp to. By keeping the table smaller you can move and store it easier.